Perusing books

A recent habit that I developed is walking up to the nearby book store, and perusing through different covers and books. Why? It offers great creative inspiration to look at so many different art styles and designs together. It's even more fun if you're looking at it with a friend, so you can share notes too! :)

Perks of daily public transport commute

Just finished a book in less than 7 days. This is the fastest I've been reading in a while. I've read 8 books this year, and gonna start my 9th book tonight. IMHO, that's just been possible this year because I have spent so much time on BART and Caltrain this year. Commuting for work, commuting to network, commuting to save money. Public transport is great for just sitting and reading.

Atlantic Hotel's the name of this book, written by João Gilberto Noll and translated by Adam Morris. IMHO it's an "OK" book, it tries to be dark and mysterious, when it's really just a meandering tale spoken from a first person narrative. I liked how the first person narrative is followed in such a disciplined manner. Sadly, don't have much opinions on this book. Good read, may make for a fun crime caper, but I wasn't particularly blown away by it.

Book Recommendation : Annie Bot

AI bots are everywhere. The AI Girlfriend industry supposed to be this multi billion dollar industry where people just talk to an AI chatbot that’s been anthropomorphized to the point that its conversation is almost Human. It’s an industry that’s a perfect representation of Silicon Valley greed and its parasitic relationship with human suffering (loneliness in this case).

Annie Bot begins there. But goes well beyond that. Yes, Annie is an AI powered humanoid, designed to obey and please her human owner Doug; but it quickly becomes apparent that the book is not just about that.

Yes, that’s the hook, but truly Annie Bot explores the complex relationships and how our actions onto others, especially things we don’t consider “equals” are often a reflection of our own state of mind. Through Annie, we see Doug’s state of mind going from mendacious, to twisted, to diabolical. Doug’s actions are what he would do, if his previous partner had no agency.

And of course, Annie is more sentient than your run of the mill AI chatbot, in fact its emotions are more complex than some of the other humans in the world today. Yet her place in the world remains interesting, as Annie gets nuggets of agency, she keeps developing character, yet she's held back by some fundamentals that seem unshakable, the more that happens the more the duality of Annie's sentience and "bot-ness" become apparent.

The book goes beyond than just forcing us to consider the humanity of both the bot and the human, it also beautifully shows us the complexities of human nature. For all his horrific actions, Doug isn’t a monster (or at least not in the traditional sense of the word), there’s another side to him, a side that’s broken, lonely, ashamed, jealous and frankly alone. All these things add up, they add a dimension to his actions. Never condoning them, but always giving them meaning.

What didn’t work for me though was the broad strokes world building, especially with the Stella-Handy, the company that supposedly runs the Annie Bot robots. For starters it was a bit weird that they would just disclose stuff to Doug over a phone call which would otherwise be under an NDA. Their partnership with Doug and Annie was also weird, given they seem to be collecting all the data to improve their products anyway. We also never really get to understand their true motives. It’s a weird chink in the armor for what’s an otherwise perfectly crafted story.

I also felt that the lead up to the final act could have reflected more on Annie’s inner turmoil and Doug’s life changes. The end feels abrupt, even if the final act is beautifully executed.

Annie Bot is a one of the most profound Human-AI-Bot interaction books of our times that offers us two complex, layered characters. Just wish the world building was just as strong.

Rating: ★★★ 1/2 (Highly Recommended)

Book Recommendation: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

This book should come with a trigger warning. Its depictions of the every day struggles of running an indie-business, crooked friendships, and loss and death are unnervingly accurate and real. While reading the book there were many a times that I had flashbacks of memories of my own past. It’s both a testament to the quality of work Zevin’s put out and a reminder that some stories can be a painful read.

I related with Sadie, on her artistic instincts and creative endeavors, her resistance to the corporate greed and being told to work in the confines of a system. I related with Marx being the adult in the room, gluing their friendship together. Related with Sam’s grandparents who found solace in caring for their grandson, and celebrated every small win of the kid (my grandmother was like that). I related with Sam when he felt love and care must be shown, not told. I also loved the fact that this is not a romantic love story, we need so many more stories about real, authentic and messy friendships!

At the same time it was frustrating to see Sadie and Sam struggle with communication, there were times when I felt I wanted to steer the book in a certain direction because the way it was headed was inevitable and foreseeably disheartening.

All this is to say that the book had me more than invested. It’s a great book and that’s what makes it a gut wrenching read that weighs on you heavy with its hyper-realistic and authentic emotions.

Rating: ★★★★★ (Hall of fame level good)

Book Recommendation: Autonomous

I really enjoyed reading Autonomous. Surprised it's not a movie remake yet.

Despite the busy writing, world building that never really stops and characters that barely get time to develop, writer Annalee Newitz is able to raise pertinent questions about addiction, gender, identity and freedom in a story that’s entertaining and prodding in equal measures. I loved the Futuristic, Spy Thriller setup of the book. Very fun!

Rating: ★★★ 1/2 (Would recommend despite the flaws)

Book Recommendation : Snow Crash

Vidit Bhargava
For some years now, a popular question in Technology quizzes has been about the inspiration behind Google Earth being a piece of software called “Earth” from Neil Stephenson's Sci-Fi novel Snow Crash. Turns out, describing a software like Google Earth isn't Snow Crash's biggest futuristic prediction. Stephenson's book is more deeply researched than that.

Back in the 1980s Neil Stephenson wanted to create Snow Crash as a computer generated graphic novel and got deeply involved in scientific research going on at the time in the field of computers and religious symbolism. In a conversation with a Jaime Taffe, Stephenson first came across the idea of a “Virtual Reality System”. Because Stephenson was spending so much time in Mac software development, he decided to design his fictional VR System called “Metaverse” using Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, following the design philosophies mentioned to lay the foundation for the most important part of Snow Crash. The Metaverse Virtual Reality System. Metaverse is what inspired the creators of Oculus Rift to make their VR Headset.

Given Snow Crash's rich technological heritage, I decided to read this book, sometime back. Like one would aspect, Snow Crash is set in a time where the next big thing after the internet is a VR System called “Metaverse”, a digital universe where users can log onto to interact with people and share information and knowledge. Metaverse has the stream of advantages that any digital universe would have. Following the plot of a certain “Hiro Protagonist”, Snow Crash explores the themes of the Mafia, religious symbolism, Sumerian Mythology and a modern day info-calypse. It's a gripping story, one that draws you into the novel from the beginning.

Snow Crash works because it's always got some or the other surprise up it's sleeve. Moreover its fascinating to see the futuristic gadgetry from the late 1980s that eventually turned into products in early 2000s. The central characters are quick-witted and every character is highly competent in what they do, resulting in scenarios where some or the other is always thinking two steps ahead of their opponent, making for a highly engaging read. Stephenson even manages to slip in humorous moments, which is good, as this book is always at a risk of being too heavy with all the different genre it's trying to merge, the humor helps maintain a lighter environment.

But where Snow Crash falters is the parts in which Hiro goes on an exploration trip about Sumerian Mythology! It's boring and takes up a good chunk of the book. I wish there was a little more focus on Uncle Enzo's Mafia or Juanita's character, both of them, while important, seem to be ignored for a large part of the book.

Snow Crash is worth a read because of the interesting futuristic tale that it has in store for us. I also found the concepts of “Namshab” and other elements from the Sumerian Mythology to be interesting, and it gets me wondering if anyone's trying to figure that out too (just like people dwelled on Virtual Reality for years)

Buying a Book Online isn't the Right Experience

Vidit Bhargava
I went to a bookshop last Sunday, my first meaningful visit to one in three years. Traditional Bookstores have always worked for me, a lot more than the online ones. So, for the book I bought, I browsed a lot of others too.

So why do traditional Bookstores work for me? They get a lot of things right.  Serendipity for example. So, when I went to a bookshop last week, I not only got the Agatha Christie novel I was looking for, I also discovered a book on Pakistan’s Cricket History, A book by Basharat Peer and an architecture and design magazine. Fortunate Happenstances like these seldom happen on Amazon or Flipkart. 

Back in 2010, I was a regular at a bookshop in New Delhi’s Connaught Place. The bookseller gradually picked up my reading habits and would suggest me a book or two, while I was at his shop browsing for new things to read. At times, it would be something I really liked at others not very good. But, there’s something to be said about Booksellers here. They are some of the best book curators out their. They lend a Human Touch to the book buying process. Go to a Bookshop about where the ones selling you a book are just as enthusiastic about them as you are and you’ll realise the value of the little suggestions they give you.

The New Book Depot, now closed, was one of the best Bookstores in the city!

Also, you get to the feel the paper, turn the pages and select the book and the paper and bind quality. Now, this may seem trivial and in reality it is indeed a minor detail which many might ignore, but to me making sure that the book I’m buying feels good in hand, is essential in the buying process.

Online stores on the other hand, lack the human touch. Personally, I’ve felt this ever since I started buying things from Flipkart / Amazon. There’s little emotion in the selling process. It’s a mechanical warehouse culture that these books are subjected to. Wrapped in a cardboard box ready to be ‘shipped’, the Book is just another courier consignment and not a doorway to another universe full of amazing things.

Wrapped in a cardboard box ready to be ‘shipped’, the Book is just another courier consignment and not a doorway to another universe full of amazing things.

On Flipkart or Amazon, you get what you want, but seldom do you come across something new. Seldom does Flipkart suggest something that you really might want to read. Both the websites its seems, are always embroiled in a battle to provide the cheapest rates possible. None of them seem to care about the condition and quality of the book they are sending the readers, there’ve been many instances for me when an Amazon fulfilled purchase ended up in a book with dust and scratch marks on it or even a torn cover. Even though the online stores provide an image with every purchase, you still don’t know what you are going to see at your doorstep.

Having said that, the online stores deserve some credit for having a much larger collection of books than a conventional bookstore might have. There’ve been a lot of times when I was unable to find a book any where in the city but found an import edition on Amazon. Also, some of the online stores do care about the books, Flipkart was famous for sending some really beautiful bookmarks, back when they were young and few people knew them.



Buying a book online is sometimes a necessity.  For every other time, I’d prefer to walk to my Bookstore where the experience is much more human. 

The Silkworm: Review

Vidit Bhargava
Book: The Silkworm
Author: Robert Galbraith
Publisher: Sphere Books (Little, Brown & Company)
First Published: 20th June 2014

I started reading the silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) last month, the silkworm is the second in the series of detective mysteries involving Detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott.

The Plot of Silkworm Revolves around The Owen Quine who has a panache for disappearing to make a news about nothing, but when he disappears for longer than usual, his wife calls in Cormoran Strike to find him. However, Strike soon realizes that Quine might be in serious danger or perhaps is dead.

Over the course of two books Rowling has developed her own style of narrating a murder mystery. Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes was narrated from the diary of John Watson and followed the investigations of the famed detective from an A to B path of a crime mystery, Agatha Christie's Poirot was a bit different where the novels, mostly narrated in third person, usually involved Poirot sipping hot chocolate at his house and talking and befriending the suspects to carry out his investigations. They too focused on only one case at a time.

Rowling's Style is a bit different from both of them, she narrates the story in the way she's always done. That is Strike following a daily regime and the primary case just being an interesting one from a bunch of others that he solves to make a living. Strike's Methods are also unique. The detective focuses on Means and
Opportunity, where Poirot focused on Motive and reconstruction of the crime. Sherlock's stories were always more about his investigative skills rather than allowing the reader to guess who the criminal was.

Giving a completely new character helps a lot. I've read a lot of detective mysteries in the last four years and most of them have been enjoyable but have more or less involved either Poirot's or Holmes' style of investigation. With Cormoran Strike we have some one who is talented but isn't someone who never makes a mistake! He not only concentrates on finding the murderer but also bringing enough evidence that'll stand in the court of law.

But what makes a great murder mystery is not its mystery but the interest it generates in the reader throughout the novel. The best murder mysteries are those which tell a great story, not those who have the most surprising ending (The Hollow by Agatha Christie is one such novel where the climax was a little underwhelming but the story itself was amazing!). The Silkworm has a nice plot and one of the ingenious ending that I've ever read! Everything is in front of the reader only its so well camouflaged that its hard
to guess by yourself.

The Silkworm is also un-droppable from the very beginning, Rowling spins a world around Strike's Office with the same precision as she did with the Harry Potter series, she also gives us two characters to root for, Just like Harry, Ron and Hermione, Strike and Robin are carefully written characters whom your are
glad to read about again when the book begins and feel bad that it'll be about an year later that you'll read about them. This sort of connection with the characters was only last established in the Harry Potter Series.
However, Rowling's latest work isn't perfect. While the climax was brilliant the story itself can't be called amazing it was good but I've read better.

The Silkworm like a good detective mystery, has un-surprisingly little action and springs up a surprise or a new lead just when you feel everything has slowed down to a steady pace. All this makes The Silkworm hard to put down and the climax is an icing on the cake (It's there in front of your eyes, yet beautifully camouflaged) !

Rating : ****

5 Books you Must Read [Part 1]

This is the first of the series, of my post on books that you must reads. So apart from the Harry Potters, Agatha Christie Books or Dan Brown Books which might depend on one's choice of books. These are the books that should not be missed at any cost.

1. Shantaram Price: Rs. 419 | Buy Here	2. Steve Jobs Price: Rs. 559 | Buy Here
3. H2G2 Price: Rs. 385 | Buy Here	4. The White Tiger Price: Rs. 209 | Buy Here
5. The Alchemist Price: Rs. 163 | Buy Here

How Revolutionary is Apple's foray into Education

Vidit Bhargava

An education based even was hosted by Apple, last month. The event emphasized on how the company will try to change the decaying American education system.

Phill Schiller took the stage to kick-start the education event by emphasizing that USA wasn't a leader when it came to global education. He didn't forget to mention that the iPad had been the most desired gadget amongst the teens. Phill also mentioned about iPad's contribution in helping students study.

There were three things, that Apple Launched that evening. I'd like to go through them one by one and try to give a feed-back on exactly how revolutionary they are:

1.    iBooks 2

iBooks, Apple's book-reading app for the iPad now features some really interactive content from popular textbook publishers. These are books specifically designed for the iPad. They are interactive, more colorful and much less boring than the books you might be reading today. And They have the same quality of content.

One such book is  E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth. Its a biology text book which is fully loaded with interactive content. You can pinch inside a human cell, interactively study the parts of an insect, get video lessons, visit interactive image galleries related to the topic, test yourself and get an interactive feedback there and then. Apple has redefined how a book looks like.

While these books may be great when it comes to 'reading the content' but when it comes to the books which concentrate less on the reading material and more on providing extra questions, the interactive way of learning faces a challenge. When you add more questions and less of content, you ultimately end up compromising the interactivity of the book. Which is something you won't want because the selling point of these books is interactivity, followed by other supplementary factors.

The interactive iBooks also have a task of luring the kids into studies, while this may convert a few students and make them study 'more' but not many will 'start' studying just because their new books are on a touch-screen device, have a video or are interactive. Moreover to such kids, the iPad might prove to be more of a distraction than a learning ground. This is something perhaps no-one can change and technology's intervention doesn't help.

* iBooks 2 is a free update from Apple's App Store.

2. iBooks Author

This is a tool for the publishers. The iBooks Author lets you create interactive textbooks and test them on your device. It provides the Author with an opportunity to put content or add interactive media. This can be in the form of an interactive HTML5 widget, a 3D figure, a video or even a simple quiz. Publishers have a choice on what they can put.

iBooks Author is just like Instant food. It can create a new book in a matter of minutes. All you need is, the content to fit in and a suitable collection of pictures and video. iBooks Author manages almost everything. Also you can test your book on your iPad before publishing it to the iBookstore. Authors can choose their own price.

However, iBooks Author has a large scope of improvement. Not only do authors have limited control to how their book can look, many of the services are only linked to Apple's ecosystem. For Example if you wish to add an HTML5 widget you just can't embed an HTML file. You will need to create a widget using Apple's proprietary dashcode and then embed it into the iBook. There is also little modification you can do with a set template. You don't have much say when it comes to changing the look and feel of the book. This might lead to a set pattern of stenciled textbooks on the iPad, in the future.

Apple Likes having a full control in all its products and iBooks Author is no exception. Its dead closed and all you can do is, play around with the Apple software. Its like a Garden with many swings, but it is closed on all sides. No where to escape. No room to expand.

On the whole the iBooks Author is a good desktop publishing tool but there is a lot left to desire over here.

3. iTunes U

iTunes U has enjoyed a good 4 and a half years of existence. It has been helpful to all kind of students and provides a good variety of courses from the world's best universities. Apple decides to expand it now, with an iOS App.

The new iTunes U iOS App features courses. What are courses? Well, Courses are just like the courses you might attend at your college. They involve Video Lectures, Mini Quizzes, Assignments, Study Material and Tests. They are a digital replica of a college course. Not only does iTunes U help you get all the content, It also helps you maintain notes, and allows you to search through the study material and keep a track of your tests.

The iTunes U App is a nice addition. It is also the most effective way of learning and grasping content amongst the three announced by Apple.

The App has a good, clean and sensible UI which allows the users to concentrate on studying and lets them build a good understanding of whatever they are learning. Also the Tests, Quizzes and Assignments are very helpful.

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Summary:

While Apple may like to portray how revolutionary these new iBooks and this Digital Content is, It remains to be seen how well it performs. The Book business might turn out to be as good as the iTunes Music Store or might end up being one of the few failures Apple has faced in the past decade. Completely changing a country's education system is a big task, This is just a small step in one direction. Only time will tell if it is the right direction.

PUFFIN 2010

Vidit Bhargava

Puffin 2010 was conducted in Delhi, on 15th November 2010. Here is an archive of the prelims:

Those Mysterious Happenings - Peril At the End House

Vidit Bhargava

Ingredients of an Agatha Christie Poirot classic, are simple.

Queer Happenings, Murder, Inquest (with no certain outcome), Japp, Hastings, Poirot's Special Remarks, Poirot's own style of Investigation, Talk -Talk, Arrest (of the wrong person), Poirot's Little Comedy, Murderer's Denial, Poirot's Explanation.

Occasionally when not Japp, some other Scotland Yard Officer comes up and is often correctly predicted as egoistic. The books in which Agatha Christie had shattered those ingredients and chosen new paths, she had succeeded, succeeded not only in surprising the reader but also turning those books into best sellers. (Take the examples of 'Murder on the Orient Express', 'ABC Murders', 'Death in the Clouds', 'Murder of Roger Ackroyd' they all were nice and of course the mysteries were 'Jaw Dropping').

Although, she might have been 'fed up with Poirot' (As christie's grandson explains), Agatha Christie never left writing Poirot Novels. This book, Peril at the End House was however one of her earlier creations (1932). Peril at End House, sounds haunting (thanks to the cover also, which makes it look like one). But, it isn't.

Bien!, the plot goes like this:

Nick Buckley has had three accidents (three escapes from murder) recently, (An Oil Painting that came crushing down on her bed, a boulder that just missed her and a car whose breaks had failed). She is fortunate to meat the great Belgian, Poirot! (Who is by the way on a holiday, with Hastings). What follows next, is Poirot's Attempts to find the murderer, before he commits the murder.

The murder mystery is narrated rather "Stylishly" by Hastings this time & is engrossing in most of the parts, even though you may know the murderer half-way through. Moreover the Novel always urges you to read more, 2 chapters a day won't help you, you're anyways going to read more to suffice your growing hunger of reading. The swiftness of the book is also a factor which acts a bonding agent between you and the book.

It is all well but what disappoints here is the mystery. As usual, Poirot plays his little comedy first (Like he has done in many others like the Blue Train mystery). There are a lot of twists, turns and truth to be blurted out till the last moment. Its all a mess in the end, till Poirot Explains and others listen. Though, out of so-much that's left to be unraveled by Poirot, you'll find a few things surprising and shocking but at the bottom of it all, the final solution is not very pleasing. Why do I say that? The Book itself reads at the back, quoting a critic's message that the final solution is ingenious. Its not. As a matter of fact, it can all be nice and surprising if you read this as your first Poirot Mystery, but looking at it in a sequence you're bound to know the murderer very easily.

There you have it, Poirot Investigated another murder after his apparent retirement, but failed to surprise me. I had known the murderer even before Poirot realized what had happened (you can say that I boasting to him here, but you see Mon Ami, even he is also not a modest chap!)

Rating: *** 1/2

Death in the Clouds - Review

Vidit Bhargava

Written by: Agatha Christie

Genre: Detective Novel, Mystery

Method of Murder: Poison

I post this one before the review of the much anticipated 'Raavan'. Won't spill the beans just now. :) (that review comes in a few hours). Eh Bien lets get to the point, 'The review of Death in the Clouds'

Plot: On a flight to London from Paris, a sleepy Hercule Poirot awakes to find fellow passenger Madame Giselle murdered by a poisoned dart. The murderer must be one of the ten passengers and two stewards aboard the flight, but when the facts lead Poirot nowhere fast, he realises that there is a real danger the case may never be solved.

The book is third person narration, so you'll find the focus hopping from one person to another. Poirot doesn't play much of a part in the first half of the book. The second though, is Poirot and Poirot himself.

The book has a steady start where its not that interesting as some of Christie's other books (Lord Edgware Dies one example) The interest actually builds when Poirot takes to solve the whole thing himself with the help of Japp and Fournier. It keeps you hooked from mid-way to the end.

The major part of the mystery is how does one kill a person, in a plane of 10 passengers (+2 stewards) without being seen by anyone. And when Poirot tries out using a blowpipe, in front of a plane full of people was very funny.

Last time when my brother read "The ABC Murders" he actually solved the mystery. That according to me was very ingenious of him. This time I tried the method which my brother used. The result disappointing. Christie outwitted me ever so convincingly. I was left with my mouth open, and so stunned by the climax, that even now (after a 4 days of reading the book) it forces me to think did he/she actually do it? And then I remember like always : Certain points gave the murderer away.

On the whole, its jaw dropping, mouth opening, and thrilling to read such a book. I wonder why it never featured as a must read? Bien, its a must read for my side at least.

Rating: **** [Awesome]

A B C Murders - Agatha Christie - Review

Vidit Bhargava

Author: Agatha Christie

Publisher: Harper Collins (Gr8 new covers again!)

Detective: Hercule Poirot

Monsieur Poirot is not the detective to look for bent blades of grass, the footprints and the cigarette ends. Its Physcology that interests him. So whatever Christie has written with Poirot concentrates on the minds of the suspects not the place of crime (of course it is there but secondary). This book is no different.

Plot: A serial killer is on the loose, one who is determined to play games with the great Hercule Poirot. But can the Belgian detective come to grips with the mind of a psychopath? With the help of Hastings and Japp, Poirot must travel the length and breadth of England. Is he always destined to be too late?

The first thing I noticed after opening this book 'in all the excitement after reading that brief synopsis' is ... "The book is not in 3 person!" A big disappointment for me. I honestly prefer 3rd Persons to 1st Persons or 2nd Persons.

Going no more further in the narration of the book. Let's get to the review, The book has a surprisingly steady speed. However, Chapters end on an exciting note and make sure you are excited what will happen next.

The 3rd Person Narratives thrown in our exceptinally well written, they just make the book a new feel. They're really very good and one of the best part of the book A B C Murders.

The Climax is the best. The book is in a very steady speed and in the Climax comes an unexpected acceleration which just works so well.

However the book is strictly for patient ones, or detective novel fans. In the middle of the there are suprising things told only to the reader (not Poirot!) which may sometimes make the casual reader feel .."Ooh, now I got it, I don't think there is much left in the book!". I suggest wait till the end!

Also Inspector Crome with his "Oh Yes!" is a little annoying. He takes the fun out of Poirot's investigation of the case and is one of those dominating characters one never likes, but it is intented to be so.

This time again Poirot does it well, his manner actually works very well and the climax, it leaves your mind spinning. And when Poirot Explains, why wouldn't it!

Aussi, Christie uses those common French words in the Poirot book! Mon Cher... Eh Bien? and others which are hard to remember. Also, I've learnt a little french also! :) .

And one more thing, whenever I read A B C , it reminds me of the book! Such is the slow but heavy impact it makes on readers.

Eh Bien! The book is extremely good. Again a Bestseller and again a Must Read. On of the books which just outwits you, and leaves you Bamboozled. However its not a book to start with for the casual reader! I'll give it 4 stars and leave you with a remark from the book "The Case isn't finished till the Motif is known!..."

Rating : ****

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P.S. My Brother says I'm on a review roll, I agree. I'll soon be writing in other forms also! Just keep reading and Please Provide feedback, it is highy needed.

Murder on the Orient Express - Review

Vidit Bhargava

Author: Agatha Christie

Publisher: Harper Collins

This was the first detective novel I had read, a complete shift from the steady Alchemist. As expected the book ideally should have been swift in its plot and of course the mystery should have been a well kept secret! but does it live up to the expectations?Does it do justice to the Best Seller tag against it? Or Is it just an over rated book? Lets begin with the plot summary

Mr. Samuel E. Ratchett a rich businessman is travelling by the luxurious Orient Express from Stamboul to Calais. The weather is cold and the train runs into a snow storm. In the train a murder occurs, that of Mr. Ratchett. Hercule Poirot is also on the train. He now has a case on his hands. Can he possibly find the murderer? After all the Murderer is on the train with him!

The plot is a fairly poised one but its the grippingness of the story which keeps you hooked to the end. Christie designed the characters very well. You've got these 15 passengers, all designed so well to look like the most innocent people on the train. It just makes it difficult to imagine, the murderer is amongst them.

The book at times might just be two Frenchish! The reason I say that is the extensive use of french in this English book and it looks like its in every book involving Poirot. I suggest, you can ignore them as the don't much affect the story.

Hercule Poirot is shown as intellectual as ever. His conclusions are admirable and the way this character is built up is for sure a treat to read. The book is in 3rd Person which is quite contrary to other books of Christie (Poirot ones).

You are always one step back of Poirot in solving the mystery. The mystery is neither something out of the world nor something which is too easy to solve. Never the less it keeps the grey cells working!

The slick and gripping story continues till the end. You are actually very excited about the climax, to read how it all happened. Poirot asks before that "I've known the murderer for quite some time, have you?" The honest answer is NO. I was close but never came to a conclusion.

The book was also made into a movie, which I didn't really like! It had that bad accent in which Poirot spoke! Its really hard to make out what he is speaking.

This classic best selling novel by Agatha Christie is not just a best seller of name it live up to the expectations. It is exciting and gripping also its just what you want from a detective novel (Never lets your clever thinking catch rust!)

Rating: ****

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P.S. I'm finally having readers! Their just coming in big numbers (atleast for me!). So a special thanks to all!

The Alchemist - Review

Vidit Bhargava

Written By: Paulo Choelo

Publisher: Harper Collins

The Alchemist was one of the books I was least interested in reading when taking up the book. It was bought by my brother an you see I wanted to read the other book, The Murder on the Orient Express but then I finally gave it a second thought and I started reading it just because it has been best seller.

Plot: Santiago a shepherd in Andalusia has a recurrent dream. A dream which tells that if he went to the Pyramids of Giza he would find his treasure. Santiago goes to a near by town, and there he meets a Gypsy women who interprets his dream. Then at a nearby plaza of the town he comes across a an old king. He encourages him to follow his dream and gives him two stones which will allow him to interpret the Omens. Santiago reaches the Port of Tanger, where his journey begins from. He is looted by a person there. Then he works for a crystal merchant earns the money and goes to pursue his dream. A long journey to the Oasis in Egypt is followed by an encounter with the Alchemist.

I've told a lot about the plot but believe me is just half of what the story is. This 150 pages book is story of a lifetime of Santiago and his dream. Paulo Coehlo has his own style writing. Any other writer would have concentrated more and more on his treasure but Coehlo has something more important and something which keeps a lasting effect. He concentrates on the things he learn during his journey and thats what I like about it.

Fluent and Constant in its speed you never wish to leave the book. I've also read it faster. One of the most important thing a book needs to be capable of is the connection it builds between the user and the book. Paulo Coehlo does it exceptionally well, you see through the book into the world of Santiago and thats what a good book has to do.

All in all, I'm completely impressed with the book. I would have regretted it, if I hadn't read it now. A book to be remembered for ages.